The 2004 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a refined and complex wine that combines subtlety and depth. It has a dark ruby color with a deep red edge and displays aromas of fresh blackberries, violets, cola, nutmeg and licorice. In the mouth, the wine has a juicy attack and offers great expression of fruit and spice on the mid-palate. Its fruit-driven finish is long and elegant. Properly cellared, this wine should give drinking pleasure through 2023.
Vintage Description

The 2004 growing season started with the earliest budbreak in history and ended with a very early harvest with light yields.

Unseasonably warm late-winter temperatures induced the earliest budbreak in memory. Once the shoots started growing, bloom, veraison and ripening took place at least three weeks ahead of their normal schedule. The early bloom was interrupted by cool spring conditions, and this caused the vines to set a light crop.

There was very little morning fog in the Alexander Valley in late July and early August. As a result, the fruit reached ideal maturity quickly, and we started picking on August 20th, 22 days earlier than usual. We finished crushing on September 14th. A harvest that normally takes six to eight weeks was concluded in a little over three. This was due in part to lighter yields, but was a very compressed schedule nonetheless, with very little down time in the fermenting room. A heat wave in early September was punctuated by an enormous forest fire near the Geysers that almost reached our Miraval Ranch. Thankfully, our grapes were spared, although, it made for an exciting and memorable crush.
Blending and Aging

Our 2004 Alexander Valley, a blend of wine from several different vineyards, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. We blended the vineyard lots in early 2005 and transferred the wine to 50% new and 50% once-used American oak barrels for aging. Blending prior to barreling allows us to achieve a balance of the wine’s natural elements, such as fruit and tannin, before they are influenced by oak. The wine was then aged in barrel for approximately 25 months and another 15 months in bottle to harmonize its components before release.

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